I just got home from court. As promised, I'll answer any questions anybody has.

http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2006/May/06_crm_313.html

Normally for lesser sentences like mine, they don't bother with PR. They only want to pat themselves on the back for the bigger sentences, so they'll write a press release for the guilty plea and then never mention it again (see: Mark Shumaker). I was hoping the same would be true for me, but I guess since the other two got prison they deemed it fit to publicize.

xpost
No, I was represented by an extremely good lawyer with a great reputation in Chapel Hill, NC. Virginia law also required me to have a separate lawyer local to the eastern district of VA, so I had a second one who was also representing someone in the Maoussoui trail. It provided lots of entertaining stories.

The more assistance someone is able to provide the government (ie, the bigger narc they are) the more the government will help them out and lessen their sentence. This was the case with Shumaker. He was leader of the group I was in and he did absolutely everything in his power to assist the government. In the end, his sentence was straight probation - no prison, no house arrest, half way home, etc - none of it. And that is the leader of the group.

So what did lesser members get? Prison time. And me, who the government recognized as a "minimal participant" (there are regular participants in a conspiracy, "minor" participants, and "minimal" participants -- I am the last one, the least important in a conspiracy according to federal law) got probation and house arrest.

The minimal participant got a harsher sentence than the leader. Some system we live in.

Shumaker was busted for being a part of a different group, DOD, which was a pretty notorious PC software warez group. Their most infamous release was a cracked copy of Windows 95 several months before commercial release. At the time he was also leader of my group. That was long before I was ever a member though, and I never heard of him until after it was too late.

All the DOJ, the FBI agents, government prosecutors, etc, all of them. They realize what a waste of time it's all been.

"The defendants sentenced today were leading members of pre-release music groups. As detailed in the statements of facts filed with the three plea agreements, these individuals were active members of pre-release groups; that is, groups that acted as "first-providers" of copyrighted works to the Internet – the so-called "release" groups that are the original sources for a majority of the pirated works distributed and downloaded via the Internet." --USDOJ PR

They all know this is pure bullshit. They know it isn't true. But, at Shumaker's tip, they spent years pursuing this only to find it out. And this is their careers. Would you report to your boss that your last couple years of work have been a waste of time? Of course not. They're just rolling with it.

I can't blame anybody except myself.

Shumaker = Easy E
Mickey = Ice Cube

The sad thing is all these groups were non-commercial warez/piracy groups.

the real punishment is when boing boing links a youtube of your video and the resultant star wars kid remixes come out.

what a waste of our federal govts time.

And I do realize how lucky I got in all this. I couldn't sleep the night prior to court imagining what a prison sentence would be like. Thank God I could afford a high priced lawyer to help me out.

I don't know when the official release date is but it was all over slsk this morning

SORRY SORRY

Meh.

Right.

The thing is completely computerized. They're going to program in the hours I'm allowed to leave my home. Otherwise, the leg bracelet is going to make sure I stay within a certain radius of my home and if it detects that I leave... well, I don't know exactly what will happen, but I'll be in trouble.

Sometime next week I'm going to start talking with my local probation officer who is going to set up the exact hours I am allowed to leave. He will program in time to go to my classes as well as my job, and from what I understand, a certain amount of daytime hours for things like grocery shopping. There may be a problem with me working at night and on weekends, and that's something I'm going to have to work out with him. I hope to God he'll understand that as a waiter if I'm limited to working only day time hours my income will be severely limited.

"Mandatory" sentencing guidelines (which the supreme court just recently ruled cannot be both mandatory and constitutional, so they are now just "recommendations." Although, judges follow the recommendations of the guideliens the vast majority of the time) put me in zone B which calls for 6 to 12 months of some sort of confinement. That includes prison, house arrest, or something like a half-way house. So, the judge thought prison would be too harsh, but going under what the guidelines recommended (meaning no confinement at all) would be too lenient, so the median ends up being house arrest. Even though, yeah, it is somewhat absurd as you point out, it's a good option.

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/topic/greenscare/

At this point I think 13 people have been indicted on various charges that carry (in the worst cases) a maximum of life plus 300 years, all for alleged acts of sabotage that hurt no one. One person out of the initial six who were arrested has killed himself in his cell. My friend, for refusing to let his right to remain silent be taken away, is now looking at up to six months in jail for committing no crime whatsoever.

I'm emotional (the grand jury was yesterday) but forgive me for saying that in this context in my life calling a 15-month sentence "absurd" seems a little, well, exaggerated. I'm from a town where a kid in his early 20's got 22 years in prison for ineffectually attempting to set 3 SUV's on fire (two were later repaired and resold).

Having said that, I'd like to note to Mickey that I haven't posted on these threads but I have followed them and I appreciate the level of candor that you have displayed in the face of some pretty hostile responses. You haven't always come across as reasonable but that's pretty much to be expected under such conditions.

I also appreciate your points about cooperation and the perks it gets you. The main informant in the government's case here is a known junkie who by his own admission was involved in many of these arsons. He has not been charged with any crime.

As somebody who has been trying to follow and assimilate some complex court proceedings I also appreciate your clarification of the levels of conspiracy. Some of those charges are also coming up here.

So while you're under house arrest think of my friend here who is in jail, and be happy. Read some good books, try to stay out of trouble, and investigate more krautrock. And be glad that the feds think you're pretty much no big deal.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/observer/news/local/14625988.htm

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/6748/battleroyale1mc.jpg

I think you were very lucky the case was brought on by the government and not by the recording industry. This way, it was little more than a PR exercise (the government is here to protect the law, so crimes have to be punished) instead of a R1AA vs. you guys case (companies lost money because of what happened, but they're not getting compensated now).

The recording industry can't be happy with this (uncompensated losses), but they can't complain either (the feds are enforcing copyright law).

But anyway, I bet you won't want to think about all of that too much anymore and this'll soon be 'that strange and scary couple of months you went through when you were 22' to you, so I'd just want to join that other poster in thanking you for your openness here.

I still don't quite get why you posted some of the things you did (some of it I get, you genuinely wanted to warn others that even a little crime is a crime, but some other things are just setting yourself up to be attacked, I feel - is it masochism?), but all of that isn't important anymore now.

xpost Believe you me, the "recording industry" does not give two wet shits about compensation for their "losses." There's no line item in quarterly financial reports for "RIAA lawsuit settlement income."

This I find absolutely mindboggling.

Reading about cases like yours is a wonderful reminder how completely random the justice system can be sometimes. Hopefully your parole officer will understand that you work when you work, and that there's no sense, in your case, of not leting you out of the house in the evenings just because you've got a rap sheet. The main point would seem to be keeping you "locked up" most of the time.

If I ever see any waiters with ankle braclets when I'm eating out, I'll assume they're you and tip well. ;)

And it wasn't me, or my friend. The people indicted are mostly in jail, a couple made bail (which was set at millions of dollars). There is quite a bit of reasonable doubt as to whether they actually committed these crimes. The trial isn't for another six months.

Milo, you are mostly correct about grand juries but I should note that they grant you immunity from prosecution and therefore you do have to answer questions that could normally incriminate you.

I don't want to hijack this thread so I refer further snarkiness to the link up above which has more information than I could give here.

The judge didn't order any sort of computer monitoring at all. I'm certain then that the probation officer will not do anything of the sort.

ere the people involved in this decision old and not terribly conscious of how that weird Infranet thing worked?
-- Deric W. Haircare (troninmorocc...) (webmail), May 20th, 2006. (Deric W. Haircare)

The judge was an older guy, and as much as he understood the case I can only imagine. Keep in mind that there was no actual court trial. I signed a plea agreement, negotiated with the federal prosecutors, and then the probation office of the court prepared a file for me for the judge to use in making his decision. It had what the government and the lawyer negotiated regarding the details of my crime (such as for example $55,000 damage done in the conspiracy and my role as a minimal participant) and an extensive financial profile, a family history, a list of my prior jobs and run-ins with the law (one arrest for underage drinking years ago, dismissed), letters attesting to my character I requested from college professors, friends, coworkers, and family, a written statement by myself, and a copy of my LA Times op-ed. So, the judge made his decision based on this packet of information. I only saw an early copy which was around 30 pages, so I imagine the final was around 40-50.

The only statement he made in court was along the lines of, "In this case I find the federal guidelines appropriate and I sentence the defendent to..." So, that doesn't give me much to surmise his understanding or interest in the case. He may have just seen it as routine and followed the government's recommendation, or who knows, he may have spent countless hours reading the packet and studying background information, precedent, etc.

As far as the federal prosecutors, they were young and it seems to me they had a very high level of knowledge of the issue. They worked very closely with the federal agents that were in charge of busting the group, who obviously had about as much knowledge as one can have.

So, does this home confinement mean you can't even go to the record store to legally buy CDs for the next six months?
-- StanM (Stan10...) (webmail), May 20th, 2006. (StanM)

I'm going to work out the exact hours I am confined with my probation officer sometime in the next week, but it is my understanding that I will have a certain amount of free hours during the day to run errands. I imagine they will be completely "free", or he may limit me to drug stores, grocery stores, gas stations, etc. I have to wait to find out how it'll be.

If I ever see any waiters with ankle braclets when I'm eating out, I'll assume they're you and tip well. ;)

-- pleased to mitya (mitya_il...) (webmail), May 20th, 2006. (mitya)

Thank you! I'm waiting to see how obtrusive it will be.

But anyway, I bet you won't want to think about all of that too much anymore and this'll soon be 'that strange and scary couple of months you went through when you were 22' to you, so I'd just want to join that other poster in thanking you for your openness here.

Couple of months? It's been a strange 2 years thus far.

I still don't quite get why you posted some of the things you did (some of it I get, you genuinely wanted to warn others that even a little crime is a crime, but some other things are just setting yourself up to be attacked, I feel - is it masochism?), but all of that isn't important anymore now.

Just like everybody else in the world I can't rationally explain all the decisions I made. Believe me, I do regret most of the things I've said about this on ILX.

Thank you so far everybody for your respectfulness as this point.

http://www.realmartha.com/index_files/bracelet_ankle.jpg

http://stlstreets.com/hello/192/1422/640/Matt%20Ankle.3.jpg

http://www.treasuresbytasci.com/ProdImages/ANK-01-BIG.jpg

"Torching a deserted building" is more than stupid- it's fucking dangerous. I don't care where it was or whether it was supposedly 'deserted' or not. I've had to escape from a burning building, which ended up being the result of arson, and I have zero sympathy for your friends or whomever these people are. Maybe one day you'll be trapped in a five story apartment building that's been set on fire, resulting in the deaths of more than a few of your friends, and you'll get a bit of perspective.

Your friends knew or should have known what the punishment was for this crime, and so they can't complain when they actually get caught.
Don't commit crimes and you won't have to worry about what punishments they carry. They should take their sentences like men.

It sounds like your one friend who committed suicide had the right idea- he didn't want to burden the rest of us with his shitty existence. Perhaps you and the rest of your douchebag friends should follow his lead. We won't miss you.

do they teach you to talk like a howling righty blogger at loyola?

vegan hunger strike = super lame

-- Thomas Tallis (tallis4...), May 21st, 2006.

I went to Loyola ~10 years ago. Good to know that you've got nothing to say, as usual. Your personal attacks need work, though.

If having zero sympathy for criminals who commit serious crimes makes me a 'howling righty', so be it. I guess I should have more compassion for people who torch buildings.

hahahaha

if you were an ex you wouldn't say that

vegan hunger strike = super lame"

All of the other prisoners respect his emo cred, no doubt.

OK, Mr. Pedant - did they teach you to strike super-tuff-guy people-should-give-a-shit-who-I-do-or-don't-have-sympathy-for holier-than-thou poses on the internet at Loyola, or did you come up with this brilliant debate strategy on your own?

There's two questions at work here. The first is, did I do anything wrong? I did. As someone else put it, I "buy into their [the RIAA's/industry's] bullshit that intellectual property is property and intellectual property theft is theft." Yes, I do believe that.

Now, picking a grape off the pack in the grocery store is stealing too, but I can't imagine any sane person who'd say that's the same thing as loading up a truck with stolen TV's from Best Buy. There's completely irresponsible intellectual property theft, and there's also responsible, understandable theft on the same level as picking a grape.

So, where do I believe my crime fits in? Somewhat in the middle. I wouldn't say it was completely innocent, completely harmless. It also wasn't very serious though. I think it was a pretty minor crime.

And that leads to the second question: do I believe the prosecution for the crime has been warranted? Absolutely not. To use your words, "the law is fucked." There never should have been an FBI investigation. There shouldn't be 3 people going to prison soon for this. This shouldn't have happened.

I guess the short version is that in my heart, I do believe I did a wrong, and the way the law responses was fucked.

-- Thomas Tallis (tallis4...), May 22nd, 2006.

The fact that you rephrased your question makes me think you actually want an answer. I couldn't tell you what they taught, because I was too busy striking super tuff guy holier than thou hyphen hyphen hyphen poses to know.

You seem to be new to the internet. Let me help. People here sometimes have different opinions from others.
Sometimes--and this is shocking, I know--sometimes, someone on the internet might disagree with you. Of all people, right? I know, crazy. Just take it slow and you'll be fine. Big exhale.

Sorry for ruining your thread, Mickey.

You have no idea how hilarious this statement is.

yeah

Leadership
    * acid^rain - Founder
    * Viper - Founder
    * VeGa - President
    * LA` - Vice President
    * LoCo - Assistant Vice President
    * Opt|k - Executive Vice President

I've missed out in all the past questioning - were your offenses committed at home or on a college campus (dormitory)? If the latter, what was the school's role in revealing your identity? Do you have a contingency plan for when friends get tired of coming over to your place and talking online gets boring? I'd recommend a treadmill or some sort of exercise routine because those post-21 years can be a killer if you're drinking and not getting out much.

YOU GODDAMNED KIDS ARE DEPRIVING ME OF MY BREAD AND WATER!

OTTO: That's bullshit. You're a white suburban punk just like me.

DUKE: Yeah, but it still hurts.

I remember back mp3s first hit Effnet, three groups started up: CDA, RNS and DAC.